Famous Packers who have jumped ship and joined Vikings out of spite
3. Za'Darius Smith, EDGE
Perhaps no one on this list was quite as upset with the Packers publicly as Za'Darius Smith.
The Packers acquired Smith via free agency after the Baltimore Ravens let him walk, and he was absolutely elite through his first two seasons with the Packers. Smith racked up 60 QB hits and 26 sacks in his first two years with Green Bay. He also added five forced fumbles and 76 total tackles.
He was an ascending player in Baltimore over his first four NFL seasons, but he became a Pro Bowl player and All-Pro in Green Bay. In his third season with the Packers, Smith was limited to an appearance in just one game and suffered a season-ending injury.
That season-ending injury was followed by Smith being released in the 2022 offseason, and he made it his mission to get to Minnesota. When he had the chance to talk about how things ended with Green Bay, it wasn't pretty...
"How I was [perceived] here in the building, I came down to here, to a nobody. To everybody in building. I was like, 'Damn, why am I being treated like this?' I brought the culture. I helped change this s--t. Why the f--k am I the one being treated like that?
- Za'Darius Smith told 'Go Long' in 2022
I put my all into it. That's why I felt the way I did with Green Bay—I gave that s--t my all. I put my blood, sweat … I put my back on the f--king line. I put everything. And that Year 3, I was treated bad. That's why I'm here now. So, I can play them twice a year."
Smith played just one season with the Vikings, but it was a productive one. He racked up 10 sacks and 24 QB hits in his lone year with Minnesota, and wound up having a sack and two QB hits in his matchups vs. Green Bay.
Now, Smith plays for the Cleveland Browns, so he's getting the chance to go against the first team that let him go -- the Baltimore Ravens. Though there doesn't seem to be nearly the same level of bad blood there as he had with the Packers.